95-Pound Tortoise's Alleged Thief Surrenders, Police Say

DOUGLASTON, QUEENS — A Flushing man wanted for stealing a rare, 95-pound tortoise from a Douglaston wildlife center surrendered Tuesday, according to police.

Police say Shawn Waters, 36, has been charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property.

The theft was first reported July 17 after a Alley Pond Environmental Center groundskeeper discovered that the beloved tortoise, named Millennium, was missing from his garden enclosure, where the fencing had been snipped away and shoe tracks had been discovered.

Millennium was safely returned home on July 25 after being found in Connecticut, around 53 miles away from his home at the center.

Waters had traded Millennium for a musk turtle at a train station in Fairfield, Connecticut, police said.

According to police, Millennium was traded for $300. Detective John Reinle recovered the tortoise after detectives traced the cell phone used to trade the tortoise to Waters.

According to police, Waters has approximately 27 prior arrests. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

“We heard about the news this morning,” Irene Scheid, executive director at Alley Pond, told Patch on Wednesday.

“We’re pleased with the work police did, and we’re glad we don’t have to worry about any possibility of [Waters] being out there to do this to someone else.”

Scheid told Patch that the center isn’t pressing charges at this time.

Photo credit: Yeowatzup